1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless printing system and method based on a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), and more particularly, to a printing client and a printing server.
2. Description of the Related Art
As digital cameras become more widely used, the demand for printing digital photos increases. In a conventional method, a digital camera is connected to a computer to print a digital photo using a printer connected to the computer. A new method in which a digital camera is directly connected to a printer to print a digital photo has also appeared. This new method is referred to as direct printing. Direct printing uses the PictBridge standard, which uses a Universal Serial Bus (USB), and a Bluetooth Basic Image Profile/Basic Print Profile (BIP/BPP), which uses Bluetooth.
FIG. 1 illustrates a protocol stack used by the PictBridge standard. Referring to FIG. 1, the protocol stack is divided into a protocol stack embedded in a Digital Still Camera (DSC) 11 and a protocol stack embedded in a printer 12. The protocol stack embedded in the DSC 11 comprises a Digital Photo Solution (DPS) layer 111, a Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) layer 112, and a USB slave layer 113. The protocol stack embedded in the printer 12 comprises a DPS layer 121, a PTP layer 122, and a USB master layer 123.
FIG. 2 illustrates the protocol stack of a conventional Bluetooth BIP/BPP. Referring to FIG. 2, the protocol stack of a Bluetooth BIP/BPP is divided into a protocol stack embedded in a DSC 21 and a protocol stack embedded in a printer 22. The protocol stack embedded in the DSC 21 comprises a BPP/BIP layer 211, an Object Exchange (OBEX) layer 212, a Radio Frequency Communication (RFCOMM) layer 213, and a Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) layer 214. The protocol stack embedded in the printer 22 comprises a BPP/BIP layer 221, an OBEX layer 222, a RFCOMM layer 223, and a L2CAP layer 224.
As described above, PictBridge is a wired direct printing protocol using USB. USB products have already been released in the market. However, USB products are not suitable for the present wireless environment.
Bluetooth BIP/BPP is a wireless direct printing protocol using Bluetooth, which has a limited wireless communication area. As shown in FIG. 2, Bluetooth BIP/BPP has its own protocol system, which is different from PictBridge, and thus, is not compatible with the general-purpose PictBridge protocol. Also, since Bluetooth BIP/BPP is based on an Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), an Extensible Markup Language (XML), and an Internet Printing Profile (IPP), it is suitable for printing a general file. However, it is not suitable for printing a digital photo.